The Access from Samsung is the more economical choice for those looking to drop some coin on AT&T’s Mobile TV service. The candy bar from Samsung fared much better than the LG Vu in terms of service quality, but its screen is much smaller and the rest of the phone is pretty plain Jane. There’s no Gmail, IMAP or POP support like the Vu. As big as the Access is there’s no QWERTY keyboard so I’m left wondering what exactly I’m getting for the $200 I’d pay for this phone.
You’re spending your hard earned cash on an otherwise ho-hum device that requires you pay an additional $13 to $30 a month for TV service. It’s a tough pill to swallow if you ask me. However, the Access does have a few redeeming qualities. The 1.3-megapixel camera isn’t too shabby, but you do have to depress the camera button for a second or two before it pops up. The Access also has an active task manager ala BlackBerry that can be pulled up via a side button. Although the screen on the Access is smaller than the Vu, I like it a lot better. It’s much more vibrant, and for some reason, it’s less of a strain to watch programming on than the Vu. The UI is simple and easy to use. It really is a basic phone with one elephant sized feature.
So, the question is whether or not you should get this one over the Vu. Obviously, the Vu is more feature rich, but not by much and the extra $100 could be used towards 3 months of Mobile TV service if that’s your only intention with either phone.
